Getting back to my original post. It looks like the design is very close to the final one (Verizon sent out this mailer: http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/...scare-children) and I still think it is quite an ugly device.

Google does at least give you the option of leaving their cloud with all your data. So if you do want to switch your more then welcome to. They're currently working on ways to output all your data so you can take it anywhere you want.

even if the exit door is right there

Perhaps one of the reasons you've been having trouble on these forums over the past few weeks is because you're not assuming good faith? Not immediately assuming people are reacting aggressively or condescendingly to your posts and the posts of others would be a good place to start. Treating them like children is also probably not the best strategy for maintaining civil discussions, no?

Er, yeah, "Maemo".

Do you have any documentation to show its not really Maemo, and that it knocks on Nokia's trademarks? I noticed the CEO of the company described the OS as a combination of Linux and Android, and didn't seem to either be able to or want to tell what OS it ran, and that gave me reason for pause, so I felt something weird was amiss.

Pros [of the Droid on Verizon]:
1. Greater higher speed data network access than (most likely) anyone else in the US. Verizon has great coverage. This is a huge pro for some folks but IMO overrated for many.
2. Java. It'll be here soon for the N900 but not today.

Cons:
1. It's a Motorola. Once they built nice mobiles but IMO not anymore. When Nokia wants to build first class hardware they can and do it better then anyone else. The fit and finish on my trusty E61i is impressive. I have yet to find a Moto device that compares.
2. Locking users and most apps out of the GPS chipset ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon...ertain_devices )
3. Verizon customer service, while better than AT&T is still a far cry from TMO. I've been with TMO since the VS days and their customer service has always been excellent.
4. The Droid is mostly new while many parts of the N900 have been in use since the 770. New designs are never perfect (like the WSOD on the 770). The N900 should have less defects due to it's maturity.
5. Android is still pretty locked down compared to the N900. The idea of buying hardware and having to hack though useless layers of security to run my own stuff is odious. My money, my hardware. While Android is better then most it's still not as free as the N900.
6. No control key. How are you suppose to use emacs? =)

Either way:
1. Cost. While the unsubsidized price will likely be less than the N900 the subsidized price could be more considering Verizon's rates [compared to TMO].

In the end I believe the two devices mostly address different audiences and are not strongly competing against each other. It looks like from the ad I saw they're directly going after the iPhone which IMO is bound to fail. No one beats Apple at a game they created.

They do it by just offering really slick and well integrated applications and services, then hoping that the convenience of it all will slowly make people not think about the competition or what options they may be lacking.

I think this is a very apt analysis, The winning strategy will be making the OS a hardware independent commodity. It's Windows vs. Apple all over again. The thing that positions Google so well is that their revenue stream is not based on selling/licensing the OS. It's based on tying people into their universe of services and then advertising to them. This gives Google a unique position. Microsoft can't do it (or their attemtps at it keep failing--Google just has too big of a head start) and has to license WinMo. Apple won't do it (they want to control the hardware and software). Likewise for Palm and Nokia really. These three all need to sell the device to make money. But it's a huge opening for Sony Ericsson, Motorola, HTC, Acer, Dell, and other not yet existent device manufacturers, on the device side, with Google being the big winner.

One problem of course with Android/Google is not just the technical question of it's halfway open, halfway closed OS. The problem is that Google will always be strategizing to suck people further and further into it's universe of services. Of course, there a privacy concerns. But this is also a limitation of choice in and of itself. In the long run, Google could become a monopoly controlling your desktop experience in a way that makes Microsofts attempts at this pale in comparison. I presonally would really rather not have Google suck up the entire world and I try to avoid being part of that. So I really appreciate Nokia making Maemo so open (but I also worry it will always remain a niche product).